BELGRADE – Prime Minister of Serbia Miloš Vučević, a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), announced his resignation today following the latest attack on protesting students in Novi Sad, in which at least one student was seriously hurt.

Vučević, who became Prime Minister in May 2024, stated that he had a long meeting with the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić who, according to Vučević “accepted my decision and my arguments”.

In a speech preceding his announcement, he condemned divisions in the society and criticized protesters for raising tensions in the previous months.

Vučević announced that Milan Đurić (SNS) would also resign as the mayor of Novi Sad, a position he himself held from 2012 to 2022.

According to 021, a local media portal from Novi Sad, multiple students were injured last night while putting on posters calling for a protest on 1 February. They were attacked by men with baseball bats, who emerged from the city headquarters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the students stated.

One student was seriously hurt last night and was admitted to a hospital, which was confirmed by the Clinical Centre of Vojvodina. Media reported that her jaw was dislocated following the attack.

The attack took place merely several hours after a press conference by Vučić, Vučević and Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić in which they said that all student demands would be accepted and called for lowering of tensions amid escalating protests across the country.

This was only the latest in a series of attacks against the protesters that engulfed Serbia following a tragic collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on 1 November, which killed 15 people.

An attack on the students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in late November triggered a wave of student blockades across Serbia’s universities.

At least some of the attackers were confirmed as members of the ruling SNS.

In late December, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić confirmed in a television appearance that there is what he called an extreme wing of SNS which he called “the loyalists”. Many interpreted that this group includes football hooligans recruited by the ruling party in recent years.